Box Score Three first period goals, including two in the final minute, propelled the visiting No. 5/6 Clarkson Golden Knights to a 6-1 victory of the St. Lawrence women's hockey team on Thursday in Appleton Arena.
"Clarkson has done a real good job scoring timely goals against us and tonight we had trouble bouncing back from their first goal," Wells added. "They had us pinned in for the last couple minutes of the first and changed the entire complexion of the game."
The Saints came out flying the first 10 minutes, but a string of solid shifts from the visitors swung the momentum in their direction. Genevieve Bannon tallied the first goal for Clarkson at the 14:13 mark with Shannon MacAulay and Savannah Harmon assisting.
Kelly Mariani notched the game winner with one minute remaining in the opening frame and Cayley Mercer made it 3-0 just 16 seconds later.
In the second period, Cassidy Vinkle extended the lead to 4-0 at the 5:27 mark, with Olivia Howe picking up her third assist of the night and Erin Ambrose tallying her second.
Brooke Webster scored the lone Saints goal midway through the second period with the Saints on the power play at the tail end of a lengthy 5-on-3 opportunity for St. Lawrence.
Josiane Pozzebon was whistled for cross-checking just seven seconds before Cayley Mercer was sent off for checking. Webster's goal; her ninth of the season, came with half a second left on the Mercer penalty, with
Hannah Miller and
Kennedy Marchment assisting.
Clarkson added two goals in the third to push to the eventual 6-1 margin.
Grace Harrison earned the start in between the pipes for the Saints, making 23 saves before being relieved by fellow first year
Sonjia Shelly. Shelly, who made her first appearance in 2016, made four saves in just over 10 minutes of work.
The Golden Knights finished with a 33-28 advantage in shots on goal, as sophomore netminder Shea Tiley made 27 saves.
"Certainly not what we thought was going to happen," Wells said. "We played well in spurts, but not good enough against them. They play too hard and take away so much.
Great thing about sports and our league, is we get to get back up on the horse and ride on Saturday," Wells added. "See everyone in Potsdam!"
The Saints will play their last regular season game against Clarkson on Saturday in Cheel Arena at 3:00 p.m.
